German Chancellor Olaf Soltz rejected Kiev's request for Ukraine's rapid accession to the European Union, stressing the need to follow the course planned in 2017, with the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.
The Chancellor also reiterated his opposition to a possible cessation of the energy market by Russia, although he faced pressure from the Baltic states. “It's very important that we continue to pursue what we have agreed on in the past,” Soltz said at the informal summit in Versailles, referring to the 2017 Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.
He insisted that & # 8220; what we need now is a ceasefire & # 8221 ;. The German Chancellor also pointed out that with 27 member states the EU would find it difficult to take a unanimous decision anyway, reiterating the issue of abandoning the principle of unanimity on foreign policy issues. Estonia and Lithuania have expressed opposition to Ukraine's request, with Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kalas telling the Suddeutsche Zeitung that in her eyes there was a moral obligation to allow these people to make their European dream come true. For his part, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte stressed that & # 8220; there is no rapid accession & # 8221 ;, while his Luxembourg counterpart Xavier Bethel assured that he has no fetish with the regulations, but, he added, & # 8220; there are conditions for a country to join & # 8221 ;.
Reactions have been provoked by Berlin's stance on energy supplies from Russia, with Latvia making it clear that it no longer considers Germany's refusal to suspend imports from Russia to be viable. & # 8220; I'm convinced that we must decide to stop energy imports from Russia in order to bring (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to the negotiating table and end the war & # 8221 ;, said Latvian Prime Minister Kisianis Karins . Poland and Lithuania are also in favor of this step, with the aim of depriving the Russian state of its main source of revenue and funding for the war in Ukraine.
The main topic of the Summit was also dealing with the economic consequences. of the war by the EU, with France suggesting the adoption of a support program similar to that for dealing with the effects of the pandemic. Germany and the Netherlands do not consider it necessary at this time, considering that the entire coronavirus aid package should be used first.
